by Matt Lincoln
Rosa sighed heavily and caught my eyes. I was hoping that she’d side with me and announce how absurd Kippy and everyone else was being. She met my eyes and held them.
“Rosa, come on. Tell them.” I wasn’t above pleading, but I hated for it to go that far.
Not this time. Rosa moved to let Doc have better access to my wounds. I got the feeling that they were trying to protect me from something.
“Now, start from the moment you noticed the guy in the crowd,” Doc said as he worked on my face. He only wanted to make sure that they understood what I’d gone through, I knew that, but it felt off to me to be explaining it all to them.
I had held my own well enough against the first guy, but he had a big nasty ring that caught me one time and sliced open my cheek and jawline. I spoke carefully as to not mess up what Doc was trying to do.
“Eve and I approached the car lot, and we saw George’s BMW and two other cars, on either side of that one, on fire. I was scanning the crowds because that’s just second nature to me during something like that, and I saw this guy.” I focused on that memory and explained it to them. “Other people were filming the fire, you know, but he was just standing there, and he was looking straight at me. There was no reason for it. I knew that. I had the feeling he was waiting for me, or us, and so I started to walk toward him.”
I winced as Doc hit a nerve, then continued. “Once he saw me moving toward him, he took off, but it wasn’t like he was scared. I know now that he wanted to draw me out and away. There’s no excuse for my sloppiness. I was distracted, and Eve’s paying the price.” My guilt over Eve’s injury had made this all worse.
“It happens. Go on.” Doc wasn’t going to beat me up over it. That was a relief. He knew that I didn’t handle that sort of thing well, anyway.
“I followed him around the corner, and he turned to fight. I pinned him up against the wall because I thought that it was just him, and I figured that I could get answers from him.” It had been known to work out before in that manner. I had taken down a lot better than that POS on my worst days.
Did he talk at all? Rosa signed to me. They were leading to something, but they didn’t want to let me in on it. That was starting to infuriate me big time.
“No, it was a slugfest,” I informed her. “He was only keeping me busy until his buddies got there. Then I hear Eve call out, and I turn to see one coming at me and another firing at her. The guy at the wall punches me, and I fall, so the gunman misses me. Luckily.” It really had been dumb luck, and I was thankful for it.
“While I was on the ground, I swept the first guy’s legs and dropped him. The gunman fired a couple of more times and missed me. But I saw Eve was down, so I just tried to take them out fast. I punched the first one, knocked him out, and then I started on the second one. The cops came running up and handled the rest.” Recalling it, it all seemed to happen much quicker.
Doc finished working on my hands in the meantime. Kippy had been watching me the entire time, and I couldn’t read what she was thinking. Xavier had, for once, not been glued to his laptop, and Rosa had been rearranging the bandages in the stack out tray, probably as a coping gesture. Once my story had finished, I figured it was time for them to talk. “What do you all think?”
“I think you’re screwed.” Leave it to Kippy to set the mood. “And, you’re compromised.” That was just about the limit I was willing to take from her tonight.
Doc placed a hand on my shoulder to hold me still. He knew what I was yearning to do to Kippy’s loud mouth and opinions. “It’s a safe bet to believe that we’re all under surveillance going forward.” Doc made the logical call. “And that puts George and his practice at risk now too. Normally, I would assume that a group like this would find it more beneficial to stay in the shadows, but these people seem intent on letting us know just how close they can get to us, anywhere.”
And at any time, Rosa added. We need to relocate, Header. We can’t stay here and expect George or anyone else to absorb the consequences of what we’re facing. Rosa glanced over at Kippy to judge her response. The tension between those two was getting more and more palpable. Even the way they looked at each other was enough to make the room uncomfortable.
“George’s been through worse. And he’s already involved.” Kippy had set her jaw firmly and kept her words blunt. “He’ll probably insist on being kept in the loop, and he’ll want to offer whatever help he can. That’s just the kind of person he is.” She avoided all our eyes, but something extra was bothering her about this. Even I could see that. I wanted to know exactly what that was.
“Still, he should be asked and have the chance to refuse or step away.” Doc would make sure that happened. “Until then, we plan around him.”
Xavier brought up another factor. “What about Mia? We need to get her someplace safe. She’s been through enough, and she doesn’t deserve to be wrapped up into any of this again.”
Kippy shook her head, looking distastefully out at us. “Yeah, but she has another issue. When we flew her here, she came into the States without proper identification and no way to obtain it without going home. We can’t move her.”
I hadn’t taken the time to realize that, but now it was pretty evident. Looking around at everyone else’s face, I could see that it had slipped their minds, as well. Too much had been going on, and once she was safe, we had laser-focused on Arik instead.
“Mia can’t go back home, not right now.” Xavier’s stake might have been more personal, but that didn’t make him wrong. “There has to be something we can do for her here, something to protect her from being targeted again or lost in the shuffle of what’s going to happen once we find Arik.”
It was time to ask some hard and interfering questions of Xavier. I didn’t want to, but with tonight’s firestorm, we needed to be really clear about this. “I hate to ask this, Xavier, but just how close are you and Mia getting? I have no room to talk, but are you getting compromised about her?”
His eyes darted down to his feet and then right back up to meet my stare. His voice was firm and solemnly kind. “I like her, and yes, it’s a dumb move, but I won’t apologize for it.”
She was just with Arik, Xavier. Are you sure she’s not on the rebound or using you to get back to him? Rose met his angry gaze and held her ground. I like her, too, and I feel terrible about what she’s gone through, but we all have to be incredibly careful.
“We’ve talked about Arik and all that,” Xavier tried explaining to us. “She never meant for it to get as far as it did. She never asked him to steal anything for her or to smuggle her off of the island. Everything just went too far, too fast. I believe her when she says that.” His face turned into a hard-set grimace, and he dared anyone to question it.
“Poor, small-town girl caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time? Yeah, that’s not new at all.” Kippy scoffed at it but quickly added, “All that aside, I’ve been doing my part and pulling some strings on her behalf. Now, whether Xavier is her one true love and they’ll spend the rest of their lives together remains to be seen. But I do know that a valid and legal work visa will be coming through any day now, and we can work from there.”
Kippy defiantly gawked at us and waited for the inevitable questions about her motives. She was enjoying having the upper hand, but what she didn’t realize then is that none of us cared. But, we needed more information, so I bit. I really didn’t want to go first, but my curiosity and desire to figure her out got the better of me. “Why, just why? What’s in it for you?”
“She’s a highly qualified nurse, young, unfettered by family and other types of obligations.” She winked at Xavier, which made him bristle. “If I was into chicks, I might go after her myself. She’s that good. But since I’m not, I’ll just try to get her street legal and hire her. Simple as that.”
Hire her for what? Rosa didn’t like the way that sounded. She was watching Kippy like a hawk, and I knew that she’d be the best one to handle it if she needed to.
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br /> “I’m always on the lookout for talent.” Kippy grinned and clicked her tongue at her.
“Bringing this back to the important points,” Doc interjected, “she should also have the chance to be shielded from all of this. In fact, I’m less enthused about her involvement than I am about George’s.”
“I second that.” There was no possible reason that Mia should be a part of this, not anymore. As far as I was concerned, she was out, period. “We’re making this strictly about us now and taking everyone else out of the picture. If these people want to target my team and me, then yeah, we’ll make sure that no one else gets hurt.”
Xavier was quiet, but I could tell that he was planning ahead.
Rosa brought up another good point. How are we going to get these people to make another move? Burning that car tonight was a draw, and it worked. It was a gigantic middle finger aimed right at you, Jake, and through you, the team. From here on out, I don’t think we should go anywhere alone and without backup. It’s getting too dangerous, and we’re not the only ones that are going to be affected.
“I’m not worried about it, not really.” Kippy’s obnoxious self-importance was shining through again. Or so I thought. “I know for a fact that I’m not being targeted here. It’s you four, and Eve, apparently, but that could be because of her close association with you, copain.”
I didn’t like how she phrased that. “How could you know that for certain?” I sensed more than arrogance behind her statement. Once again, she was hiding some very important information, it seemed, and not knowing what that was would get people hurt if not killed. “Why don’t you quit acting like an ass and just try being helpful for once, Ozoa?”
She smirked in her usual, offhand manner. “I told you. There’s more to the Judge than you’re willing to admit or see. She’s been watching you all since the Azores. Since the day she cried on the phone and asked you to find her son.” She got profoundly serious for a moment, and that was something I didn’t like seeing from her. It was an incalculable risk to let her keep this up, both the half-truths and cryptic BS.
How do you know any of that, Ozoa? How could you know what she’s doing unless you’re a part of it? Rosa moved closer, and I felt apprehensive for a moment that someone was going to get beat down. My money was on Rosa.
“Because my people have been following them. I’ve never trusted Fu from day one.” She raised her eyebrow at Rosa. “You’re telling me that you have?”
Rosa’s head moved slightly, and she didn’t answer the question. We all knew the answer to that question.
“Do you have any proof, or are you only basing your distrust on a gut feeling?” I wanted a straight answer, and there was no telling if I’d get one. There wasn’t going to be any forcing intel from her, and there were only so many more niceties that I was willing to expend on her.
“I will have proof. I’m waiting for the final analysis on Chorley’s phone to come in before I show you my hand, though. That good enough for you?” She looked right at me, and I could see in her eyes that she was certain about what she was saying.
“Who’s Chorley?” Xavier glanced at me, hoping for a hint.
Kippy answered before I could. “The driver the night Arik and Mia were kidnapped. Simon Chorley. Young Arik’s bodyguard and erstwhile babysitter.” Kippy was enjoying herself far too much for my tastes. She was not taking this as the significant matter that it was.
“And you have his phone? Since when?” Xavier seemed hurt that he was only just not hearing about it. But he wasn’t alone.
“Since I passed myself off as his next of kin back in Angra do Heroismo and got all his goods.” She could see the shock and horror coloring our faces as we heard this news. “Don’t worry. I got his body sent back home and billed the Judge’s account for his funeral expenses. But I kept his phone and sent it to some of my friends to try to retrieve the information off it.”
“Xavier could have done that for us. Why do you keep going behind our back, Ozoa?” My frustration at her was reaching new levels, and I was not in the mood for more of her theatrics tonight. This was going to have to end, and soon.
“Why do you keep ignoring my warnings to you? It's nothing personal, I bet, just good business, right?” She wasn’t above throwing all this back in my face, and I knew she’d do it again in a heartbeat. I wasn’t going to give her a chance.
I moved right into her face to answer her. “None of this has been personal, and you know it. You showed up, kicked around as little information as you could, and asked me to trust you. What was I supposed to do with that?” I gave her a moment, but not long enough to answer me. “Now, who has the phone?”
“Not you.” She barely reacted.
I flexed my hands to keep from countering her smug refusals. Doc stepped up next to me and tried to get in between us to stop this from escalating any further. “Header, please.” He was cautiously and carefully trying to keep me from killing her on the spot. I knew that. “It’s not helping anyone.” That was his polite and respectful way of asking me not to put her down right here and now. He knew what I was capable of, and he also knew how far I could be pushed.
Doc did turn and address Kippy, though, speaking to her as I’d seldom seen him do before. He probably thought that it would give me time to cool off, but that just wasn’t happening.
“I assume that you have your reasons for behaving and reacting in the way that you do,” he said calmly. “But you are not helping your case in any way. I will tell you this once, Ms. Ozoa. Do not push this man, or any of the rest of us, any further than you have tonight. That’s my singular word of warning to you.”
Their eyes locked for an instant, but not long.
“Do you understand my concern and why this will be the one and only warning to you?” he continued. “This man’s word is law to us. We have followed him and will continue to, long after you are gone. But make no mistake, if you vex him, none of us will lift a finger to aid you. He chooses who we work with and when he finally has enough of you, so will we.” He stepped back and glanced over at me for my approval. “So, please, do try to have a little respect for your betters.”
“I gotcha, Doc.” She nodded, backing down from this dispute, having thought better of challenging me. But she didn’t move away from Doc. They were awfully close, and neither one would give in. That’s what bleeding for the team got me, loyalty beyond anything else.
Xavier cleared his throat and called an end to the stalemate. “I think that I’m just going to go back to my room and sort this all out alone. See you all in the morning.” He never was one for confrontation.
Rosa nodded to him and signed something at Doc that I didn’t see completely. He, in turn, spun around without giving an inch to Kippy and left the room.
I waited until all of them were out of earshot to leave a lasting word for her. “I’d say that this partnership is at an end, wouldn’t you?”
She leered at me and bowed in an irritating, dramatic way. “There never was a partnership. But not from a lack of trying.” She blew me a kiss and walked out the door.
I followed my team out and back to our individual rooms. I’d had enough of that creature’s BS for one night. It was time to fix things and put them right where I wanted them to be.
Chapter 23
Jake
I woke up the next morning with my mind made up. My team and I were leaving here and going to set up somewhere else. Luckily, I had a place that could be ready with just a bit of time, work, and planning.
Years ago, I had purchased a condo located in Biscayne Bay, Miami. My team and I had used it off and on throughout the years, but only for short stints at a time. It was a great place, and I always felt at home when I was there. It just didn’t happen all that often.
Now that we had our business in Miami seemingly prolonged with this mission, I thought it best to use it as the temporary base for the team. It was private, and the view was a thing of beauty. I loved to sit out on the balcony
and just watch the ocean. It was a peaceful place to think, plan, and reminisce.
I made a call first thing in the morning to Mrs. Atencio as soon as it was a decent hour to do so. She answered after the third ring.
“Good morning, Mrs. Atencio. This is Jake Header,” I greeted. “How are you doing?”
“Mr. Header! Sí! It’s so good to hear from you! How have you been?” She still had that overly excited attitude to her voice that put a smile on my face every time.
“I’m really good. I’m back in town for a while, and I need to use the condo while I stay. Is it alright if I come by in about an hour and check it out?” It was mine, bought and paid for, but she had been looking after it for me during my extended absences. Plus, as the landlady, I’d left the keys with her for security reasons.
“It’s your home. Of course, you can use it!” She laughed, and I suddenly realized how much I’d missed talking to her. “My Apolonia cleaned it only a few days ago. It should be nice and fresh for you today.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Atencio. I’ll come by in about an hour.” I hung up and looked around at my borrowed room.
I didn’t have much stuff to pack as it was, only a few sets of clothes and a weapons kit. Otherwise, I was good to go. I wanted to go set the place up before I relocated Rosa, Doc, and Xavier there. Plus, we’d need food and supplies for this extended and indefinite stay.
I grabbed all my gear and made a pass by Doc’s quarters to let him know where I was going. I knocked a few times before I heard movement.
“I’ll be right there,” he grumbled through the door.
Maybe he’d had a later night than I had because he wasn’t known for sleeping in. Doc finally opened the door, and I could see that he had just gotten out of bed.
“Hey, sorry to wake you, but I just wanted to let you know that I’m heading out for a bit. I’ve got a place that I want to relocate us all to, but I need to set it up first. I should be back in a few hours. Either that or I’ll contact you with the info.” I took his disorientation as a sign of something else, and I peeked into the room. A laptop was in the room, on the floor next to his bed. Maybe he’d stayed up too late doing research again.
